Author Notes - The Tin Man has a backstory that not many seem to know, which is a shame because it's certainly worth writing about. This is definitely one of the most serious things I've ever written, and perhaps a somewhat odd choice for my first foray into the Land of Oz. I've written this so it works whether it's going by the book or the movie, but it does ignore some parts of the later books such as that 'No Death' rule and the fate of, erm, what was left of what the Tin Man once was.

This was going to be a oneshot, but as per the norm for me it got kinda long, so I divided it up into five chapters to make it a little easier to swallow.

WARNING: This story depicts some rather graphic violence involving a character hurting themselves with an axe. I could've made the imagery a lot more violent than it is in the final product, but I wanted to focus more on the 'tragedy' part of this story and less on the 'horrific' part. Albeit, it is still rather violent.

PART ONE

CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!

Niccolo Chopper, better known as simply Nick Chopper, inhaled the lovely forest air and sighed blissfully. Oh, how he loved the sound of chopping wood in the morning. It was his job after all - he was a woodsman, just like his father before him. Though Mr Chopper was no longer around, Nick still followed his every word, like to watch out for which trees were sentient and to always keep a can of oil nearby in case his tin axe got rusty.

This morning, however, his heart was soaring.

CHOP!

He glanced away from the tree for a moment, towards a woman sitting on the bank of the nearby river. Her lovely blue dress only accentuated her fair locks that shone in the sun, whose light seemed to be following her just to highlight her beauty. The majesty of the shimmering river before her paled in comparison, at least as far as Nick was concerned. Even her name was the greatest in the world to him - Irida.

'You've chopped enough trees today.' She said, turning around to look at him. 'I'm sure you'll get plenty of money with today's load alone.'

Just the very sound of her voice made Nick's heart flutter. He supposed that her voice was what honey would sound like if it could speak. Listening to the voice more melodious than the most lovely of music almost made him miss the tree and strike his own leg!

'Oh my!' He exclaimed.

He jumped back with shock, but luckily the axe merely hit the dirt and had missed his sensitive skin completely. With a sigh, he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Irida gasped. 'Are you okay, Nick?'

He nodded. 'I'm just fine. You didn't really think that a woodsman such as I would make such a silly mistake?'

She giggled; a surefire sign that she had relaxed. Her laughter left Nick a little weak on his knees, but a strong woodsman such as him would never fall over such a silly thing. He glanced back at the tree, and shrugged. Perhaps she was right - he had worked a lot today. So, he left his axe embedded in the ground and ran over to his beloved woman. With a smile, she got up and lifted her arms up for a hug.

Suddenly, Nick stopped just as he reached halfway. He wasn't sure why, but he knew that his last step didn't quite feel right. He stood still as a statue for a moment, before he finally worked up the courage to lift up his foot and see what he had stepped on. Never had he regretted such a small decision so much. On the underside of his boot were the remains of a beetle. His heavy boot left little behind, turning the once-shiny creature into nothing more than a mass of goop and bits. Upon seeing such a horrible sight, he gasped.

'Oh no!'

Irida gasped too, not because she was shocked by the sight but because she knew what Nick was about to do next. In an attempt to prevent the inevitable, she ran over to him as fast as she could.

'Nick, please!' She cried. 'It'll be okay.'

Though the reassuring tone made her sweet voice even more lovely to listen to, Nick couldn't hear her. His mind was too focused on the beetle, or at least what remained of it on the bottom of his boot. One of the legs twitched for the last time before life disappeared from it completely.

'No…' He muttered. 'I-I couldn't have…'

'I-It's okay, Nick.' Irida said, putting her hand on his shoulder. 'It was just an accident.'

The reassurance in her words did little to help, for Nick could see before him that the deed had been done. His heart wretched, but he could not look away. He could feel the tears coming, but unlike some other men did not even try to fight it.

He wept for the poor little beetle whose life he had ended, for though most would see nothing but a pest he saw a living creature with no less value than himself. All he could think about was how he, by accident, ended an innocent life, and could not stop crying out of grief and guilt. Irida, not one to dismiss a man for expressing his emotions, wrapped him up in her arms and hugged him tight. Her heart melted for the poor woodsman, but she knew she could do little beyond simply being there for him.

'This is why I love you so much.' She whispered to him.

Though he still felt great guilt for what he had done, the words of his wife-to-be managed to help. He managed to give her a smile, as she had reminded him why he loved her as much as she loved him.

'Come on.' She said. 'Let's give the guy a proper burial, and then we can take a break.'

So, the couple put everything aside to give the beetle the burial it deserved. For the rest of the day, Nick was always careful to watch out for any more little critters, lest he end another innocent life.

While they got to burying the little guy, someone was watching them from the nearby house. It was a woman named Cadmi, the mother of Irida. She watched the adorable couple through the window with a scowl on her face.

'When will my daughter stop talking to that wimpy woodsman?' She muttered to herself. 'I'm hungry!'

She witnessed the whole scene, as Nick took off his boot while Irida volunteered to do the digging. He was still weeping a little as she used a small shovel to dig out a little grave, and he couldn't bear to watch as she was forced to scrape the beetle off his boot. In just a few moments, he had chiselled a little cross to put on the grave, one of many in the forest. There were so many for he left no creature unburied or unmarked, even those only killed so another could eat.

Cadmi winced. 'Blegh! My daughter is leaving me for this sissy of a man? If she must be married, it should be to someone strong. Not someone who cries upon crushing a bug!'

She couldn't bear to watch anymore, so she turned away from the window and to the rest of her little house instead. Only thing was, the sight of the mess of her home was enough to make her grit her teeth. Ever since Irida had fallen in love with that wuss of a woodsman it seemed, Cadmi's house had been reduced to a total mess. Which made sense to anyone but Cadmi, for she got her daughter to do everything for her.

'Oh, I am sick of that Niccolo character…' She grunted. 'I can't let my sweet Irida marry someone who can't possibly support her. Never mind our deal. Money or no money, I cannot allow him to marry her. I have got to do something about this.'

In the paddock in her backyard, the cows mooed and the sheep bleated. She opened her mouth to yell at them, but then she got an idea. A devilish grin grew on her face as her mind churned out the most brilliant way to keep her daughter (though some would say 'slave').

'If I can't convince my daughter not to marry that man,' She said, rubbing her hands together. 'I know someone who will.'

So, she left the house for her long trek. Nick and Irida were too busy enjoying each other's company, basking in the sunlight and admiring the beautiful forest, to notice that Cadmi had left long ago. In fact, the couple were lying together in the sunny spot in the middle of the forest, adoring the light and the heat. If you asked Irida in that moment what Nick looked like, she'd say that the sun made him shine more than the most polished of emeralds.

'Oh, forget about that house, Nick!' Irida yelled. 'I'll gladly move into your little wooden shack. Sure, it isn't much, but I'd rather live in a box with you than in a mansion by myself.'

Nick shook his head. 'I can't do that, Iridy. You deserve the greatest house that money can buy. I may not be able to ever afford that, but I won't stop until I'm close. It's why I have to gather so much wood, or I won't be able to get the money to buy it.'

They both sighed blissfully as they stared into the beautiful forest. It was one of the things they had in common, after all: their love for all things green and alive.

'My father told me many great stories about his adventures in the forest.' Nick said. 'One time, he was up against a horrifying lion!'

Irida gasped, then giggled. 'Oh, a lion?'

'Oh yes! That beast almost had him dead, but he grabbed his axe and whacked that beast right in the nose! W-With the blunt side of the axe, of course. My father believed in never killing an innocent animal. Said that king of beasts ran away like a coward!'

Irida laughed again. 'Imagine that! A lion who's a coward.'

'Oh, you'd be surprised. My father said he once met a really tough little squirrel. It nearly bit his hand off, apparently!'

This silly story made Irida laugh again. Nick loved this sound, not just because it sounded gorgeous but because it meant he made her happy.


Cadmi's trek was long and hard, as she travelled all the way east through the land of the Munchkins. Luckily for her, she and her family were already native to the eastern blue lands, so this adventure wouldn't be nearly as bad if she were going west instead. She had come this way for a very good reason, as she had someone to talk to.

Far off east, the furthest you could go before you hit the Deadly Desert, stood a formidable horrifying castle. It was rickety and all of its bricks were an ashy black, but none of this deterred the woman. She marched right up to the castle gate, and knocked.

'Let me in!' She announced. 'I am here to see the wicked Witch of the East!'

Compared to the Witch of the West, who would've just fried her on the spot, the Witch of the East was willing to wait to see if a deal was good for her before taking any action. She invited Cadmi into her wicked abode, and the two sat down to talk over a cup of tea. Tea, by the way, which was made more for a wicked taste, so Cadmi couldn't stand the stuff.

'So,' The Witch said, stirring her tea with her long fingernail. 'Why have you come to see me?'

'It's that blasted Niccolo Chopper.' Cadmi said. 'He wants to marry my daughter Irida, and I'm afraid he's got her by the heart.'

The Witch winced. 'Ugh, of course. I've seen that Niccolo. If he wasn't such a good woodsman, I would've had him fried long ago for being such a sap.'

'Exactly. I cannot let my daughter marry a man who will be unable to provide for her. A man should be strong in both muscles and heart, and I'm afraid Nick is only strong in muscles. His heart is so weak that he cries when he crushes a bug. You have to do something about him. Anything to make him suffer for taking my daughter away from me.'

'Alright then. I admit, I've been looking for an excuse to mess with him for a while. He should be lucky he doesn't have to deal with my sister, or she would've killed him plain and simply by now. The real question is… what's in it for me?'

Cadmi grinned. 'I have plenty of cows and sheep in my paddock. You may have as many as you like, aside from a couple so I can continue living, if you prevent this marriage.'

The Witch of the East tapped her chin as she thought over this deal. Of course, any excuse to mess with the wimpy woodsman would be worth it, but she certainly liked the sound of those free cattle. She licked her lips just thinking about their juicy meat.

'Alright then!' She declared. 'We have a deal! I get to torment that sad sap and you get to keep your little slave.'

Cadmi rolled her eyes. 'She isn't my slave. She is my daughter, and I am trying to spare her from a horrible married life.'

'Sure you are.' The Witch took another sip of her tea. 'By the time you return home, you will see the results of my little curse. And I can assure you, it will only get crazier from there.'


Irida had not missed her mother the entire time she was gone, even when she did notice her missing. Why worry about her when she had Nick? Speaking of which, days had gone by and he needed to return to work. He had more orders for a lot more wood, and those trees weren't going to cut themselves down. So, he returned to his patch of trees and saw his axe right where he left it.

'Alright, let's get chopping.' He said. 'If I hope to have enough money to buy my sweetheart her house, I need to get to work.'

He picked up his axe, and spotted a good tree to cut down. After taking a quick glance at Irida, who was busy picking some lovely red flowers, he lifted his axe and went to swing. With the tin tool over his head, he didn't notice the blade emitting some green sparkles as he lifted it. When he tried to swing it downwards, however, it didn't move. At all.

'What the…?'

He tugged and pulled on his axe, but it seemed as though it was stuck in midair by an invisible force. Then, it began to twitch. It appeared to be aiming its own blade downwards, towards his legs, completely against his will.

'What are ya… doing, you blasted axe? I'm trying… to cut… some wood!'

No matter how hard he tried, that axe did not obey. It shook around in his hands, and he had no way of controlling it. He tried to let go of it, but it seemed as though his hands were fastened to the handle.

'COME ON, AXE!'

Irida heard his frustrated cries and turned her head to look…

'ARGH!'

'OH MY!'

Just in time to see the axe blade go right through his left thigh, chopping cleanly through the flesh and bone until it had gone in all the way, disconnecting his leg from the rest of his body completely. He could finally release his grip on the axe as he collapsed to the ground, screaming and groaning in pain and agony.

Irida rushed to his side as quickly as she could, tears rolling down her cheeks. Nick could barely sit himself up as what little remained of his left leg proceeded to bleed profusely, staining both his clothes and the ground a horrible shade of red.